4 Tips to boost restaurant summer sales through social media

Lisa Andersen

Content Editor
5 min read

The summer season is a perfect time for every restaurant to invite tourists to come visit. But what do tourists do before deciding where to eat? They check social media reviews! We have identified the four most popular review sites and we will give you hands-on tips to get 5 star ratings. You can’t afford to miss this.

Tripadvisor

Back in the good old days, tourists used guide books to find the best restaurants in town. Now, they use Tripadvisor for reading and writing reviews of everything within the hospitality industry. And the restaurant part is really popular. A good review on Tripadvisor will attract a lot of people to your restaurant, so make sure you step up on the food and your customer service – and your guests will rush to give you a good rating.

A perfect way to market yourself is to put a little sticker on your door saying, “4 stars on Tripadvisor.” Your customers will notice it and be more likely to add to the list.

Yelp

Yelp is another popular review platform, but unlike Tripadvisor, which contains reviews within the hospitality industry, Yelp displays ratings for all indutries. You might feel like your restaurant is drowing in the review pot between cars, health and medical reviews, however, the restaurant segment is still extremely important.

Work on encouraging your guests to give you a rating on Yelp, “Please feel free to rate us on Yelp if you think you’ve had a nice time,” “Did you love the food? Rate us on Yelp,” “How was your experience? Tell us on Yelp.” Either have your waiters say it or write it on your menu cards, boards or receipts. Also, add to the sign on your door, “4 stars on Tripadvisor AND 4 stars on Yelp.”

Facebook

Facebook users check in all over the world and a check-in at your restaurant will spread to new networks and give you great exposure. It’ll work even better if the users add a small description or perhaps a picture of their meal. Their freinds will notice the post and see it as a stamp of approval for your restaurant – a place they need to visit.

A good idea is to encourage customers to check in. Tell them that if they check in on Facebook, they get a glass of cold white win on the house. Or perhaps a free starter. Something that they will enjoy in the summer heat. One glass of something won’t cost you anything but it will give you a good review on Facebook.

Instagram

Right after selfies, pictures of food are the most shared ones on Instagram because they are simple and relatable. So, naturally, your food should be shared too. First of all, update your own Instagram profile and use the most popular hashtags – #foodie, #restaurant and #your location (very important!) – for the pictures you upload. Those hastags will attract the right customers and make you searchable. When the users see the lovely meals you are ready to serve them, they will rush to your tables.

Then, they will take pictures of their meal and put them on their own Instagram profile and hopefully they will tag (@) your name in the post to give you more exposure. This creates great social engagement and a picture on Instagram is one more good review. Great!

Lisa Andersen

Content Editor

Part of Planday’s content team in Copenhagen, Lisa is into yoga and loves good writing. Her experience includes working with communication and PR for international grassroots organizations in Argentina and Bolivia.

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